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AT PEACE WITH NATURE |
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CLOSE UP OF STITCHING |
When I thought about the theme, comfort, several things came to mind. The comfort I find with my husband, family and friends, the comfort of a touch, the comfort that comes from sharing a cup of coffee with a friend. I decided that for this theme, I would combine the places where I find comfort - a walk by the lake and the discovery of an unusual bloom. I love my backyard garden which includes colorful flowers and a bubbling fountain. So I chose to make a quilt with a wonderful joyful flower and running water across the bottom.
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CLOSE UP OF MOSS |
I design my quilts in a free style, cutting them out as I go without patterns. I fused the fabrics for raw-edge appliqué using Wonder Under. The background is left over hand-painted fabric from Sky Dyes. The stems are rotary cut with a serrated blade to give motion and movement. The leaves and binding are Shot Cottons. The flowers, buds and water are various batik fabrics. Each leaf is hand embroidered with machine stitching added around each border. The center of the flower contains 5 pieces of fabric fused on top of one another. The solid yellow was machine stitched with Poly Neon embroidery thread, and the multi-color orange flower petals were free motion quilted and outlined with Aurifil thread. The moss at the top of the water was created using Wild Heather's hand-dyed silk organza. The buds were accented with various colors of colored fabric pencils. The quilt was attached to Timtex prior to machine quilting, then backed with a solid fabric and
finished with a solid Shot Cotton binding.
Carolyn, your own personal "voice" as a quilter continues to speak loud and clear in this quilt! As with all of our photos, I urge all readers to "click to enlarge." The meticulous workmanship added on the overall immediate impact of this quilt are amazing! Good job!
ReplyDeleteYour bright, sunny yellow flower immediately makes me smile. Love the use of the serrated blade - cut stems which adds to the whimsy of your quilt. I can also almost hear your bubbling fountain when I look at the water, which alone I find very comforting.
ReplyDeleteAnother beauty Carolyn! The colors, workmanship and design are all so perfect and well executed. I love looking at this. The serrated stems really add to the piece. What a joyful design you've created.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn - You are amazing! The colors, composition, and execution are perfect. This is one of my favorites! Pure joy and happiness exude from this piece.Your solution for the stems is brilliant. Adds a fun factor and whimsical appeal to the solution. Wow!!!!!!! You go girl! What a lovely piece!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, I swwwoooned when I saw this beautiful piece. I know it is really meaningful to you because it says all you say. Glad to see what the serrated blade can effect. Love the waves and all of the movement in the piece. Brava!
ReplyDeleteI second and third all previous comments. I LOVE this art quilt.
ReplyDeleteI just love your flowers and the texture. Such a lively piece!
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn - What an incredible work of art ! I loved your descriptions of the processes & techniques you used, and the descriptions of fabrics and tools.
ReplyDeleteI love using the serrated rotary blades, but be careful...they can be hazardous to the health of your cutting boards ! I have an old board that's only used for the serrated and wavy rotary blades, and even that one's getting pretty "beat up" :-/
Congrats on your beautiful quilt !
Kathy - thanks for this tip! I didn't know that they could damage the cutting board and will be sure to dedicate an old one in the future just for this purpose!
DeleteThis is so fun and so wonderful. It perfectly depicts your comfort. I must say, that I immediately thought of Whimseyville when I saw your little quilt and could almost see a tiny little elf house under the beautiful flower 'shade tree'. Love it!!
ReplyDeleteRita, my thoughts went quickly to Whimseyville, too! I know we need to wait until 2014 to post our "group quilt," but I am really eager to share it with ALL the Mavens, not just those who were present in Houston. Carolyn really DOES have a distinct style, and she manages to pull it off each time with such beautifully meticulous workmanship. Good work Carolyn!
DeleteI just love your style! You have a unique, fun, elegant way of creating your quilts. The way you added all the textures with materials and handwork and your design makes it a friendly quilt to look at. It is as if they are friends waving at us.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! Left town early Friday and just returned from a wonderful weekend. Will look at all of your beautiful quilts tomorrow. Eager to see them!
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